Fang and Fur
by Saiyuki Minamoto
Summary: Rhea and Yuna are experiment made by vampires. Weapons for a war that will soon come. On the run from their creator, trying to find peace in a world that knows not of their existence and would destroy them if they knew. They band together with other runaw
1. Beginning

chapter 1 Syki & Amara's Story

Rhea ran through the dark forest, on a moonless night. Her blue-black hair flew behind her and tangled in tree branches, thorns and nettles clawed at her legs, trying to restrain her. An alarm blared behind her, helicopters buzzed over head, searchlights streaming around, trying to break through the dense, protecting and restraining canopy. She pained little attention to where she was, just so long as she was far away from here. Finally, hours later, sounds of the search were no more, she had no idea where she was or how far she had ran. She sank to her knees for a brief rest.

Yuna paused, hearing the sound of an alarm blaring in the distance, and helicopters searching the area.

"What on earth?" she muttered aloud, her pale blue eyes scanning the darkness Watching, waiting.

Rhea paused, and sniffed the air, then sniffed again. Someone was close by; she didn't know if they were friend or foe. She stalked off in the direction of the scent, already starting to change into her other form.

Sensing a nearby danger, Yuna leapt lightly into a tree and climbed up to the highest branch she could find. Then sat to watch, and wait.

Rhea paused and sniffed, looking around. Trying to decide what to do, and who she had smelled. She had to get away from here, but had no idea where she was, and did not know the forest. Finally, she decided she couldn't do anything in the dark, regardless of her excellent night vision. She reverted to her human form and calmed down.

"What are you doing in my territory?" Yuna asked, leaping down to a lower branch, and staring at her guest. Her pale blue eyes held no emotion. Rhea turned sharply, a defensive snarl tearing from her lips as her claws and fangs extended.

"Your territory? I thought this was wild land." She replied.

"No, this is my territory. But I don't mind having a guest, so long as you don't intend to cause trouble. Yuna said, jumping down to ground level. Her moon-white hair was stained with crimson blood. As Rhea relaxed slightly, her blue-black hair fell around her face. Soaked in sweat and tangled in branches and thorns, this was highly irritating, she brushed it out of her face. But then the smell of blood reached her nose and she stiffened again. Then eyed Yuna with dark gold eyes. She eyed the gaping head wound with a slight hunger. She swallowed and controlled her hunger.

"You're hurt, you need to lie down." She replied.

"Oh this?" Yuna asked, touching the wound.

"Nah, it's just a scratch." She said, before she fell forward, unconscious.

Rhea caught her, and then held her breath; she didn't need any more reasons to leave the poor girl here. She carefully picked up the girl and headed off in the direction of a nearby stream that she had heard bubbling. She quickly bathed the girls' wounds in the cold water and then tore off a bit of her ragged shirt and bound the head wound. Satisfied, she leaned the girl against a tree, and proceeded to try and untangle her hair and remove the worst of the junk.

"What…" Yuna muttered, stirring, she saw the strange girl trying to clean her hair.

"Why are you? Why did you help me?" Yuna asked, trying to sit up straighter. The stranger made her sit still.

"Lie down and rest, my name is Rhea. I stopped the bleeding, but it's a nasty wound." Rhea replied, laying a firm hand on the girls' shoulder.


	2. Meettings

Chapter 2

Night had returned when Yuna next woke. She sat up and stretched, her injuries completely healed, with the exception of slightly raw skin. She stood and strode out of the cave, and grew feathery black wings from her back. Rhea opened her butterscotch eyes and looked around for Yuna, she wasn't there. Rhea sighed heavily, she should have known, she had no friends. She stood and stretched her stiff muscles, and walked out of the cave.

"Oh, you're up." Yuna said turning and smiling at Rhea. Her moon white fangs glittered in the light of the half moon. Rhea smiled at the sight of her friend.

"You didn't leave; I thought you might have left. Could you possibly tell me what you are exactly?" She asked, tilting her head curiously to one side.

"Oh, what I am… Well, I am a vampire, but these wings, I don't know…" Yuna replied, staring at the moon.

"So what about you? What are you?" she asked. Rhea looked a little taken aback.

"Me? I'm complicated. I'm a hybrid, vampire werewolf cross, possibly the first, I don't know. My history… well it's a little complicated." Rhea said.

"Oh, were you a slave? I heard alarms the day I met you." Yuna asked,

"No, not a slave… I guess you could call me an experiment of sorts." Rhea explained.

"Oh, yeah, I was the same. Just a weapon the Vampires made." Yuna replied knowledgeably.

"I don't know what I'm for. I just know I've been in a Labyrinth for all my life and don't even remember being human. And this is the first time I've ever been out of the Labyrinth." Rhea replied.

"Well, it seems we're a lot alike, you and I." Yuna replied, pulling her wings back into her body.

"I guess so. I just want to get as far away from here as possible. So where to?" Rhea asked.

"I'm not sure. Well, we're going to need a map or something." Yuna said thoughtfully.

"Hm…" Rhea bit her lip pensively. "Do you have any idea where we can get one?" she asked.

"Well, if we wait long enough a soldier may come by." Yuna suggested.

"Yeah, possibly. But we shouldn't linger too long. We're still close to the fortress, and they may still be looking for me." Rhea agreed.

"That's true. Well I could go, and take one from them and you could stay here. I need to feed anyway." Yuna said, running her tongue over her fangs.

"OK, that sounds good. I'll wait here, but if you take too long I'll come after you." Rhea said nodding.

"Then I won't be long." Yuna replied spreading her feathery black wings and she flew off into the night, as Rhea sat just inside the cave.

The star filled night provided Yuna with plenty of light and the fortress quickly came into view. Her glistening white hair danced around her face as the wind played with it, and she landed lightly on one of the pillars surround the dark, dreary fortress. It looked like a Dracula's version of Frankenstein's castle mixed with medieval cult architecture and feeling. Surrounded by a dark, murky moat, and mile high walls dripping with slime, water and bracken, ivy choking the doors and clinging hopelessly to the pillars; The building itself looked like a cross between Dracula and Frankenstein's castles and a medieval cult Notre Dame. The only modern looking things were the guards armed with various weapons, and guard dogs. And watch towers placed on the corners.

"Now where would they hide maps?" Yuna asked herself, looking around. Then her eyes fell on a lit storeroom under a watch tower.

Back in the forest, Rhea was waiting just outside the cave, for Yuna to return. She stared dazedly up at the moon, lost in thought and memories. A twig snapped off to the side she jumped, startled, and leaped lightly and quietly to her feet. She shifted into a defensive, but slightly offensive position, ready to attack; a defensive snarl escaped her lips. A creature stood in between two trees, now bathed in moonlight. Rhea scrutinized the creature closely with hunter's eyes.

The creature looked human enough, stood tall like a human, and had natural hair like a human. But he had gold cat-like eyes and had calico cat ears poking though his mud-brown, cropped hair. He also had a calico cat tail that was twitching nervously. He also possessed abnormally long, claw-like fingernails. He looked vaguely familiar to her.

"Who are you?" she growled, showing white fangs, ready to change in a heartbeat.

"My name is Daven, who are you?" the cat person replied.


	3. Friendships and Bonds

Chapter 3

Meanwhile, at the gothic fortress Yuna had found a drafty old shack, which looked very out-of-the-way and held possibilities. She looked inside, it was similar to a scribe's room, with boxes upon boxes of parchments scrolls and other writings all stacked on shelves. Nailed above a low shelf, was a map, it was drawn on worn-out aged parchment, but it looked like a very recent and accurate map. She reached up to take it down, Perfect, this should help us get out of here. She thought. She paused suddenly, listening, voices outside, headed her way. She seized the map, ripping one of the corners, and slipped outside. Once she was safe in the shadows she spread her wings and took to the skies, heading back to find Rhea.

Back at the clearing Rhea eyed the new stranger, Daven, curiously. "My name is Rhea, what brings you here?" she asked suspiciously.

"I am looking for someone, I did not mean to intrude." Daven replied.

Yuna flew overhead, flying quickly, worried for her new friend. As she reached the clearing she saw Rhea and what appeared to be some kind of Youkai. She folded her wings and dropped to the ground in front of the Youkai, with elongated fangs bared.

"You, what do you want? Why are you here?" she asked.

Daven stepped back a couple paces, hands raised palm upward in a peaceful gesture. "Peace, I am merely traveling, trying to find someone." he said. Yuna's eyes narrowed.

"Who are you looking for?" she asked suspiciously.

"I," He paused. "I don't know exactly. Only that it's a girl, and she's different from humans." he said, a little confused, as though he hadn't realized this before now. "However, I do not know this land very well, and need a guide." he continued, and, upon seeing the map in Yuna's hands, asked. "May I travel with you?"

Yuna looked him over, judging his aura and physical capability, then grabbed Rhea by the wrist and walked a few feet away into the shadow of the trees.

"He doesn't seem dangerous, but still, he is suspicions." she whispered.

"I'm not so worried about him being a threat to us, more like me being a threat to him. I have neither knowledge of nor control over the full extent of my abilities." Rhea said, then glanced back over at him. "Yet, he seems familiar, like I know him from somewhere, but I can't place him." she said thoughtfully. Yuna titled her head to the side curiously

"Familiar? How so?" she asked, the question showing on her face and in her voice.

"I don't know, there's something nagging, tugging at the edges of my memory, but I can't say what." she said, then shrugged and sighed. "It's probably nothing."

"Do you think your memories were stolen?" Yuna asked.

"Stolen? What do you mean?"

"Like, taken from you when you were experimented on."

"Hm... I don't know, it's possible I suppose. I don't remember anything about my past except the experiments and trials." Rhea said. "But, if my memories were erased, why would I suddenly remember them?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Good question, I don't know either." Yuna said. She turned and walked back to where the youkai was. Rhea hesitated for a minute then followed her friend.


	4. Worries and Goings

Yuna looked up, meeting Daven's gaze, after looking him over once more she finally nodded and said, "Well, since you don't seem dangerous, and you intentions seem naive enough you may come along is Rhea doesn't mind." she said, glancing back at her friend. Rhea shook her head.

"I don't mind, but my powers are dangerous and sometimes unstable, so traveling with us could be hazardous." she warned.

"Well, being a weapon does that, it's a con of the job. By the way, my name is Yuna." Yuna said, flashing moon-white fangs at him. Daven smiled impishly and extended razor-sharp cat claws.

"I'll consider myself warned, but I can take care of myself." he said, and then retracted the claws, his calico tail twitched and flicked back and forth before he stilled it. "So, where are we headed?" he asked. Yuna shrugged.

"Don't know, heck, we don't even know where we are, much less where we're going."

"Well, that's comforting." Daven said, half-sarcastically.

"Well, let's just look at the map and see. I'm actually pretty good with maps; I did live in a Labyrinth after all. It was kind of a necessity." she said, taking the map from Yuna. Yuna shrugged and helped her roll the maps out on the ground. She whispered in her ear,

"You've been awfully quiet, something on your mind? Or someone, more like." she said smirking. Rhea smirked back at her,

"Really, I thought that was you." Yuna looked a little taken-aback.

"What? You're the one who knows him." she said.

"Well, they say familiarity breeds contempt, therefore, he's more your type." Rhea said, and then shrugged. "Besides, my powers are too uncontrollable for a relationship." Rhea said, flattening one of the bigger maps and pinning it with pebbles to examine it. Yuna just shook her head and sighed.

"Well I need to go feed, be back in a bit." Yuna said, and with that she spread her wings and took to the sky


	5. Cave

Rhea knelt down and traced lines and patterns on the map with her finger, Daven looked into the skies, watching Yuna leave. "So, uh, how long have you and her known each other?" he asked.

"Hm, oh, just a couple days. Why?" she asked distractedly, focused on the map.

"Oh, just curious, you two seem really close." Daven said.

"Hm..." Rhea replied. Yuna returned a couple hours later her cheeks flushed from the blood. "Feel better?" Rhea asked looking up for the first time, and Daven smiled.

"Yes, but the sun will rise soon so I will be going to bed." she said, glancing at Daven for a brief second.

"Really, dawn already?" she asked standing and stretching. "Well, about thirty minutes away is another cave and it's en route. We can camp there." She said, folding the map and pocketing it. Yuna nodded and they headed towards where Rhea had seen it on the map.

They had gone about thirty minutes when Rhea stopped and started routing around in a bush.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Daven asked.

"Looking for the cave, here we are." she said, pulling part of the bush aside to reveal a narrow opening that hid a wide, tall, deep cave. Perfect to avoid the sunlight and any unwelcome visitors.

"Ah, sleep at last." Yuna said sleepily, going to the darkest corner and curling up against the rock, wondering vaguely how Rhea had known the cave was hidden behind a bush. Rhea smiled, and tucked the maps away in Daven's' rucksack.

"OK, you sleep, I'm going to go explore. Be back in a bit." Rhea said, following a tunnel that led through the cave.

"M'kay." Yuna muttered, slipping into a comfortable, dreamless sleep.

In the tunnel, Rhea followed the long, dark, familiar passageways. The Labyrinth in which she had lived her entire miserable, tortured existence no longer held any fear for her, therefore no more power over her. But it did hold many painful and dark memories. She paused every now and then as she remembered and seemed to mentally re-live some of the moments. She finally stopped and looked up where a trap door loomed invitingly and ominously overhead. Her eyes were well adjusted to the ominous, forbidding darkness, so pushed open the trap door and climbed through it into a dark, musty room.


	6. Battle part 1

Back at the cave entrance Yuna tossed and turned in what was turning out to be a not so comfortable sleep. She struggled to get to and stay asleep. Daven, sitting closer to the entrance, glanced at her worriedly. "Hey, you OK?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, just restless I guess. It's the new blood in my system probably. Every thing is adjusting." Yuna explained, waving his concern away as she sat up, bowing to the inevitable, and realizing she would not get sleep at the moment.

"Oh, I see." Daven muttered. "So have you and Rhea really only known each other a day or two? I mean, you two just seem so close, it seems like it would be longer." Daven explained, blushing lightly.

"Yeah, why so interested? Hm?" Yuna asked, glancing at him suspiciously, the corner of her mouth tilting a little.

"I don't know, it's just, she seems a little familiar, but I can't think from where." Daven shrugged.

"Yeah, she said the same thing about you." Yuna said thoughtfully.

"Really? Did she say why?" Daven asked, looking up curiously. Yuna just shook her head,

"No, just said you seemed familiar." she said.

"Oh... I see." Daven said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "Who were her parents?" he asked. Yuna shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't know that much really, at least personally. We haven't talked about that stuff much. It's just kind of been, getting settled, getting used to each other." Yuna explained.

"Hm... I see." Daven said, then stiffened, listening as the sounds of a scuffle reached their sharply tuned ears. A sudden vicious snarl rent the air. A twisted grin spread strangely over Yuna's face, contorting its fine, porcelain, angelic features strangely.

"Looks like the fun has arrived." she said.

Rhea was slammed into the stone wall as soon as she was through the trapdoor; she slid down the slime covered walls. She staggered to her feet, already shifting into her lightly furred hybrid form. She was fully changed in a heartbeat. She let out a vicious snarl at the two looming figure in front of her. One was a seven foot tall black werewolf; the other was just under that range, and pale as the moon with raven black hair. A vampire, the vampire held a long, bloodied cat-o'-nine-tails. She snarled, remembering the pain that had caused her. It was going to be a fun bit of revenge.


	7. Battle and hidden talent

Chapter 7

Yuna and Daven raced down the long dark tunnel towards the sound of the commotion. They saw the trap door hanging open and quickly clambered through it, and into the fight. The vampire lashed the whip at Yuna which she nimbly dodged, and round-house kicked the vampire in the face, smirking as a sickening crack rent the air. Rhea snarled and lunged at the werewolf, sinking elongated, razor sharp fangs into the lycan's spine. The vampire stood in a flash with an enraged hiss, and seized his whip and lashed out wildly. Rhea felt the familiar burning, biting pain as the poisoned whip tore lashes into her back. Instinctively her back arched and her head was wrenched upward, tearing the unfortunate lycan's spine out. Daven was not to be left out of the action, he lunged at he vampire from behind, tackling him with blade-sharp claws and pulling back, forcing him to drop the whip. Yuna spun around helplessly looking for some kind of weapon ' Where's a weapon? Anything, I have to find one. She thought desperately as the vampire managed to free itself from Daven and raced towards her. Out of nowhere a white scythe appeared in her hands. Rhea saw the scythe appear out of nowhere, she stared thoughtfully, until another roar from behind her alerted her to the presence of another lycan further down the tunnel. She wasted no time, turning and racing towards her next foe. Daven caught himself before he hit the wall as the vampire threw him and he let out an enraged cat-like hiss then leaped over the first lycan's corpse at the vampire. Yuna gave no quarter, and wasted no time, she sliced the vampire's head off and turned to follow Rhea, Daven following behind.

Rhea ran full out not paying attention to the floor; she barely kept herself from falling into a twenty foot deep spiked pit in the floor. She staggered backwards a few paces as two lycans roared at her from the other side, clearly hoping for a new meal. She shifted the scents of the tunnel, the only way out was past dumb and dumber. She paused, gagging distance, then leaped over the chasm, ducked under one lycan, and tripped him into the pit; the other lycan sank fangs into her already injured back. Half a second later he gasped and made an odd gurgling sound before falling back dead.

Yuna ran blindly after Rhea, she didn't see the pit and fell towards the spikes, she caught herself just over the speared head of the lycan corpse, her feathery black wings flapping keeping her suspended above the spikes of death. Rhea gasped as she saw Yuna fall but sighed in relief as she caught herself. "You okay?" she asked, as Daven stood on the other side, judging the jump. He paused, and then leaped gracefully over the pit. At least it would have been graceful if he had actually made it. Instead, he fell short and crashed into the wall almost sliding to his death if Rhea and Yuna hadn't caught him and hauled him up. "Nice jump." Rhea remarked sarcastically. Then turned to Yuna, "So where did you get the shiny new toy?" she asked, pointing to the bloodied scythe in Yuna's hand.

"Um... I don't know. First, I was just looking for a weapon and this came." she said, holding it up.

"Heh, that's weird, maybe it's just an instinctive power?" Rhea asked.

"I don't know, it just happened." Yuna shrugged.. "Well, we can worry about that later I guess." Rhea said, her head was spinning and she felt sick.

"Come on." she said and turned leading the way down the tunnel and turned left, clawing the camera she saw, and then kept going. Yuna and Daven followed, they helped each other outside and into the shelter of the forest.


	8. Rhea rampage part 1

**Chapter 8**

Once outside Rhea relaxed, now in her element, earth, and darkness. She led her friends along the wall in the shadows, and through the hole she had made during her first escape. Once out of the grounds they ran for the shelter of the dark trees and ran on until they were in the thick of them. Panting for breath and exhausted, running on sheer adrenaline, they all paused, and bent double, gasping for breath.

Rhea finally relaxed completely and shifted back to her human form. Probably not the best choice, as she collapsed instantly lost to her dark unconsciousness. "Rhea!" Yuna gasped rushing to her side and quickly checking her pulse. Daven swore and knelt next to her, looking her over for wounds. He sat her up and noticed the nine, fine, cuts across Rhea's back. They smelled strange and were also marred by large fang marks on the side, where the cuts had swelled at each puncture. They had a dark, almost green tint to them.

"Poison. She's been poisoned." he said.

"Poisoned? How? By what?" Yuna asked, gently rubbing over the wounds, examining them.

"When she attacked the first lycan, that vampire got a shot at her back. The whip must have been poisoned. It explains why the other lycan died, it's poisonous to lycans, but not vampires." he said thoughtfully.

"Oh." Yuna replied, looking down.

Then she looked back up in a sudden idea. She sliced her wrist with her fangs and smeared the blood on Rhea's wounds

"What are you doing?" Daven yelped incredulously. "Sharing blood could kill her; it might not be her blood type!"

"If you have a better idea then tell me," Yuna snapped. "But she won't die from this anyway; she's half of what I am." Daven looked at her confused.

"You mean like a sister? You said you'd never met before." he said, sounding befuddled. Yuna shook her head.

"What I mean is she is half vampire, my blood will heal and strengthen her." Yuna explained. "It happened when we were experimented on. She's half vampire, half lycan, and I'm a stronger vampire." She explained further as Rhea groaned and tried to stand. Yuna helped her to her feet. Rhea groaned and held her arms out to steady herself. Her eyes, previously a light, topaz, were now a soulless, evil black, and the thirst seemed to threaten her very existence as she fought for control and the pain it brought, like a stabbing in her gut. She resisted the urge to growl and snarl like a dumb beast, and was thoroughly grateful her companions were not bleeding. Or were they? Yuna. Yuna was bleeding, and she was so close. Too close. She snarled and shoved herself away.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted, terrified of her almost uncontrollable thirst.

"It's okay," Yuna said, watching the wound heal by the second. "It's almost healed." Rhea looked away.

"No! No it's not; I can't control It." she yelled and fled into the woods away from her friends, and away from all sanity


	9. Rhea rampage part 2

**Chapter 9**

"Rhea!" Yuna called after her friend as she fled into the darkness.

"Come on, we have to find her." she said to Daven and ran after her. Daven ran after the girls, feeling very worried for Rhea, and surprised at how oddly familiar her scent was to him. His long sleeved, white shirt snagged and tore on thorns in the bushes, ripping his shirt and drawing a thin line of blood. It revealed, to anyone that may have been watching, an old scar, like a tattoo carved into his skin. The 'tattoo' was of a Celtic cladagh, but it only showed the left half, the symbol seemed incomplete. Daven tracked Rhea to a clearing, where she was in the midst of an elk herd, all sleeping, and completely unaware of the current danger they were in. In the blink of an eye she had latched on to one of the elk and was feeding, in hybrid form, her fangs sunk deep into the animals' hide. Once it was dead, she pounced to another. Suddenly she stiffed, scenting the wind that blew from Daven's direction. She growled and turned to face him, showing bloodied fangs, and glass-black eyes staring in hunger at him. She charged, stunned, he could only grab her arms to keep her arms length away from him as she snapped and snarled at his face. Purely instinct and unable to see all the opening he had.

She forced him back to a tree, and the already weakened sleeves of her clothes tore further, revealing a mark almost identical to Daven's, except it was the right half of the Celtic Claddagh. This caught Daven completely by surprise and he let go only to fall backwards, and he stared up at Rhea with glazed eyes of amazement and horror, as she towered over him hungrily.

Out of nowhere Yuna appeared and side-kicked Rhea sending her flying into a tree and leaving her stunned. She seized Daven and took to the skies.

"Are you bloody stupid?" she asked, shaking him by the collar of his shirt.

"I know Rhea." he said stupidly.

"Well thank you captain obvious." she snapped. Daven shook his head.

"No, I mean I know her from some other time. Like in the past." Daven explained.

Below, Rhea was picking herself up off the ground and snarled at them Yuna landed in a nearby tree. Rhea snarled in rage and clawed at the tree in a fruitless attempt to break it. After this wielded no results she stalked off in search of easier prey. The elk herd was still there, beside a river. She fed quickly thrice more on the elk. Then she turned to the water and crouched on all fours, and lapped up the water.

She seemed to calm then, and she slid into the water and shifted, her eyes now a bright gold like color, and stared at the running water. Yuna flew down to her. Once Daven was on solid ground he ran to Rhea and wrapped her in a comforting hug.

"Rhea, are you okay?" Yuna asked, resting a hand on her shoulder, looking at her worriedly.

Rhea was only vaguely aware of her friends, lost in the terror of realizing how close she had come to killing them. She nodded slowly, even though she knew it was a lie. She was far from okay.

"Well, guess what." Yuna said, slapping her back cajoling. Rhea looked up at her for answer. "Daven is getting his memories back." she said. Rhea looked over at him curiously. Daven shrugged.

"I don't know. I just guessed we've met before, you seem real familiar and we have a matching mark." he said, showing her, as Yuna looked on in curiosity.

"They complete each other." she stated in a matter-of-fact tone

"Oh." Rhea said quietly, trying to remember where and when she had got that scar.

"When did you get it?" Daven asked. Rhea just shrugged, A slight pause and Daven shrugged.

"Okay, well what now?"

"Don't know, I guess we should find our memories, figure out what exactly is going on." Yuna said, and Daven nodded agreement.

Rhea stood suddenly, and just started off into the trees, stumbling as she went. Yuna followed curiously.

"Rhea? Hey what's up?" Yuna asked, following Rhea, who did no answer, but kept going until she tripped and fell over a fallen log.

"Rhea, what's wrong?" Yuna asked as she helped her friend to her feet. Worry in her pale blue eyes. Rhea coughed a laugh.

"What's wrong?" she said hysterically. "What's wrong is that I can't control myself! I get a few cuts and have to go on a bloody rampage fueled by an insatiably blood lust for supernatural creatures. And on top of all that , I nearly kill the only people who actually care about me at all and I'm just wild and dangerous and I can't control myself! I hate it, I could kill you!" she said, completely hysterical now, shaking and gasping for breath.

As Yuna looked on, trying to figure out what to do, Daven, under some strange possession of mind, walked up to Rhea and wrapped her in a tight, warm embrace.

"It's all right," he said comfortingly. "You're still learning, trying to figure out your powers. It'll just take some time okay. We'll be here to help you. And we'll all get through this together. Once your memories return you'll probably have better control." Daven said. He was about a head taller than Rhea. This was a good thing, as he rested his head on her chin comfortingly.

Rhea was silent, and engulfed in a whirl of emotion. First, security at having friends like Yuna and Daven. Second was the familiarity of the situation, being comforted by Daven. And another part was scared, scared of these new feelings and what pain they might bring. Oh, where did she remember him from? She had to find out. Daven finally pulled away and looked away, a little flushed. He knew he had comforted her before, and he silently vowed he'd find out when and why.

"Come on, let's get moving." he said.


	10. Villan

**Chapter 10**

Meanwhile, miles away set in dark, high peaked mountains thunder boomed and threatened rain and lightning but only the sky remained dark. Inside, deep inside the long, dark, slime covered tunnels and up to longer, torch lit hallway that twisted and turned in labyrinthine patterns; wound its way through an old castle. At the end of one of these particular winding passageways was a dark, mildly lit throne room. In this room a vampire raged, while servant and beasts alike cowered in fear of his wrath. "TWICE!! NOT ONCE BUT TWICE! They have been allowed to escape twice, thrice in the case of the vampire! It's nothing but sheer incompetence. Fools! Can you do nothing right?" the vampire roared in rage, glaring at two servants with blood-red eyes.

"Sorry milord, we didn't know of their entrance in the fort until they had reached the woods. It was a sheer accident, and we have sent guards to hunt them down." one of the petrified servants muttered.

"Fools! If they can't stop them how would they catch them? You, servant, bring Him to me. Now!" the poor servant boy fled in haste to obey his master's orders. "And you two will be imprisoned for now until I find a suitable punishment for you. Take them away." he waved his hand dismissively as another man entered. Garbed in black leather breeches and a leather vest with a black onyx pendent choker, he wouldn't seem too dangerous, but his natural white hair and sharp, cold, blue eyes almost screamed predator.

"You summoned me milord?" he asked in a calm, icy voice.

"Yes." he hissed, motioning for the adolescent to come closer.

"My experiments have escaped and the usual guards are foolish and incompetent, therefore incapable of retrieving them. They are both in the company of the Hybrid's ex-guardian. He can die if you wish, I care not for him, but the others must be brought to me alive. Quickly. Do you understand?" he hissed.

"Of course, milord. Consider them yours." the boy bowed. The head vampire smiled,

"Oh, Mercury you are such a comfort to me. Go, I will see you upon your return." he waved him away affectionately.

His white hair streamed behind him as it freed itself from his fallen hood. He ran faster every time he caught the fresh scent. He also cursed every time he lost it and had to waste time in recovering it. The hybrid had collapsed just outside the fortress, poisoned it seemed, Master Agro would be very displeased when he heard about that. It seemed that the enhanced vampire had healed her by letting her feed, or something similar, because her blood stained the ground as well.

Something had happened, and the hybrid fled, where she fed on a large herd of elk, half of the herd in one area and the rest in another. But all were dead, drained of their blood. He realized her power scared her; he might be able to use that to his advantage. He listened to their discussion of their next move; they seemed to be heading towards a small village. He decided to run on ahead and ambush them. With a grin, he slipped away into the darkness to run and wait.


	11. magic?

**Chapter 11**

Daven, Yuna, and Rhea trekked through the rugged, shadowy terrain. The moon gleaming in the cloudless sky was hidden by the thick canopy above; where small nocturnal creatures scurried about their business through the night, making soft rustling sounds. They were quiet for a while, just trying to find somewhere to rest, and each lost in their own separate thoughts. Finally they found an area that was clear of shrubbery and surrounded by tree roots that seemed to form a protective barrier and haven.

They stopped; Daven leaned against the edge of a tree while Rhea sat in a sort of den made by thick, entwined roots of an oak and maple. Yuna walked around the clearing, observing in thoughtful silence. Finally she stopped and perched on a fallen log.

"Well, hopefully things are better now, you're cured of poison, and you're getting your memories back, Rhea, and so is Daven." She added. "But now we need to find a safe place, better than a temporary camping in the forest."

Rhea pulled out the map Yuna had stolen and looked it over. She tapped it, at one point, looking it over.

"Here, there is a village about four miles down the road." She said

"Well, that's great, except where is the road?" Daven asked annoyed, and obviously tired.

"It's about the same distance, in a northeast direction from here." Rhea replied, ignoring his tone.

"Oh." Daven replied sheepishly.

"Okay, so that's one problem settled, but we've got another." Yuna said.

"What?" Daven asked, looking around for trouble.

Yuna looked at him pointedly,

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, you have two fuzzy appendages on the top of your head and one from your backside. I think the humans _might_ notice." Rhea snorted, and smirked. Daven flushed as his ears twitched.

"Oh, yeah….forgot about those." He muttered. Rhea stared at him.

"They are attached to you, how could you forget about them?" she asked, dumbfounded. Daven stuck his tongue out at her childishly.

"That's why I forgot them, I'm so used to them I forgot other people aren't," he retorted. Rhea had to agree on a slight point.

"Well, it's still not much of a problem." She shrugged. Yuna nodded.

"We can hide the ears with cloth or something, but what about the tail?" she questioned, as she circled Daven, with her index finger on her chin, looking thoughtful.

"Magic. Or, Glamour, to be precise." Rhea said. Yuna looked up at her, head tilted to the side.

"Can we do that?" she asked, sounding a little excited.

"_We_ can't, but you can." Rhea admitted. Yuna stared at her blankly.

"Really? How?"

"How did you summon your scythe? I think if you focus on Daven's tail being invisible, it will become invisible. You said you were looking around for a weapon and it appeared, so maybe the same principles apply." Rhea suggested.

"I don't know, but, I guess it's worth a try." Yuna shrugged, she grabbed Daven's' tail he twitched, but tried to stay still. Rhea smirked, as she watched them. _Oh, so many plans,_ she grinned. Rhea suddenly went ridged as a breeze blew through the clearing and carrying a strange scent with it. She scented the air, and looked around in the trees, after finding nothing, she shrugged. Maybe it was a far off scent, just carried a long way. She looked in Daven's bag and found a strip of cloth she used to wrap around Daven's' calico cat ears.

"Hey, I did it." Yuna cried gleefully as Daven's tail disappeared. Daven twitched and danced around a little bit.

"Gahh! It feels weird." He complained. Rhea looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not going to comment. At least now we know one of your extra abilities." She said to Yuna, who nodded.

"Yeah, magic. But if Daven complains anymore he'll need to cover up a black eye." She scowled. Rhea grinned.

"Okay, that's enough flirting you two, let's get going." She said, heading through the trees in the direction indicated by a second, brief scanning of the map. Daven, stood shocked, his face beet red, and spluttering protests. He tried to run after Rhea but fell due to lack of balance.

"Oomph!"

"Do what?!" Yuna shrieked, running up to Rhea and pushing her a little bit. Rhea laughed as she staggered.

"Flirting; you were flirting with Daven." She teased.

"I was not!" Yuna snapped indignantly. "What about you and that little hugging scene back there, huh? And stop laughing, it's not funny."

"You're right," Rhea nodded, sobering, and then burst out laughing again. "It's hilarious." She said avoiding Yuna's question, as Daven caught up with them.

"Whatever." Yuna scowled, annoyed, she moved faster so she was ahead of the group and didn't have to look at them. Rhea smiled after her, as she became lost in thought over her powers and what they were going to do next. The only things she knew of her powers were the shape-shifting, bloodlust, and increased inhuman senses and skills. Yuna walked along, lost in thought as well, as the question, _what kind of monster am I?_ Running circles in her mind, taunting her with an answer hidden in fear, and indecision, just beyond her grasp.


	12. white haired foe

**Chapter 12**

The hours past in thoughtful silence as they traveled through the thick, dark forest. Finally they reached a long dirt and gravel road stretching for miles in either direction. The travel was a little easier on the road, their feet still ached, and leg muscles complained, but they weren't fighting the foliage, and could see the path in front of them without stumbling.

After another few miles, the sky started growing lighter, dawn was approaching. Yuna shielded her eyes with her hand, as Rhea growled a curse.

"Come on, we can run the rest of the way, it's only a couple more miles." She said.

They nodded and took off in a full sprint down the road until they saw the edge of a small town, and slowed to a jog, and finally a stop, just outside. They bent double, panting form their exertion, they already looked bad enough, like hermit, hobo, and vagrant all rolled into one, not an impressing combination, nor an endearing one. Rhea looked up, just realizing another problem.

"We don't have any money. How are we going to pay for a place to stay?" she asked. Daven opened his mouth to reply when another voice from the shadows answered Rhea.

"Oh don't worry, sweetheart, where you're going you won' need it." Mercury stepped from the shadows, grinning malevolently "They take real good care of their pets."

"Vampire." Yuna whispered, staring at the white-haired youth's blood-red eyes that watched them hungrily.

"Rhea," she hissed under her breath, "We have to finish this quickly."

"Awe, but I wanted to have fun with him." She whined sarcastically as she summoned the change of her hybrid form. Yuna shook her head, looking panicked, as the sun threatened to rise. Two silver knives buried themselves in her legs; she shrieked in pain and collapsed to the ground.

"You won't be going anywhere, White Reaper." Mercury hissed.

Rhea snarled and roared as her form settled. Her last audible words were;

"Leave my friends alone! Daven get Yuna out of here!" before she rushed Mercury and her fangs sank into his neck before he could dodge the unexpected rush. Her naturally inward tilting fangs fastened onto the skin like grappling hooks.

"Daven, pull the knives out, now." Yuna groaned, gritting her teeth against the pain of the silver. Daven ran to her, his back to the fight, only focused on Yuna's pain. Mercury grinned, pulling out another silver knife with his free arm.

"Die slave." He snarled launching it towards Daven's exposed back.

"Get down!" Yuna shrieked, pushing Daven away. A large, black figure cut across them as the blade flew towards its target, and was knocked away. _Nooo!! _Rhea screamed in her head, even as several things registered in her mind and occurred all at once. First of all, the animal nature actually realized what it was drinking; vampire blood. Second, she tore Mercury's arm off in her shock and rage, just as, thirdly, a figure kept the knife from killing Yuna. Enraged, and full of bloodlust, Rhea attacked the assassin again, with fangs and claws leaving both the hybrid and vampire soaked in blood. This time Mercury lost a couple fingers in that had been previously attached to his left arm.

The other figure, that had protected Yuna, now lunged at the vampire as well; Daven shook his head from a daze and rushed to help Yuna to her feet, as the sun started peeking over the trees. Mercury let out a hiss of fury as he kicked Rhea back and fled for the trees, seeing he was clearly outnumbered.

"This isn't over yet, you'll be returned to my master!" he called back

Rhea sank to the ground, exhausted, as Daven covered Yuna in a cloak and then draped one over Rhea. He pulled Yuna into the shelter of the trees and rushed back to help Rhea in a standing position and half-dragged her into the trees with the help of the stranger.

Rhea calmed down in the cool shade, and shifted back to her normal human form, with was strangely weaker in sunlight, and then she went to check on Yuna.

"Are you okay?" then she mentally kicked herself, of course Yuna wasn't okay, she'd been stabbed. Daven watched the new stranger warily, looking him up and down, ready to fight if necessary. He looked about 6'2'' or 6'3'', muscled, and tan, long black hair, with beaded braids intertwined throughout its shoulder length flow.

"Who are you?" he asked coldly.

"Yun's guard." He said offhandedly, trying to lean over Yuna, but was blocked by Rhea, who was ignoring him.

"I'm fine," Yuna assured them. "It will take a little while for the wounds to heal." She said, wincing as she brushed over the charred flesh.

"Are you okay Rhea? The vampire didn't hurt you did he?" she asked, trying to sit up and move around. Rhea gently held her in place.

"Stay put, I'm fine, just soaked in his blood. You need to rest." She ordered. Not voicing the problem that she still lusted for his blood.

"I just had a little trouble shifting back; I probably expended a little too much energy. It's nothing." She shrugged, looking over Yuna's wounds, she scowled before pulling a vial out of her little waist pouch. The vial held some dark, black-red liquid, which she handed to Yuna.

"Here, drink this, it will help you heal faster, I keep it for emergencies." She said.


End file.
